The Apple Never Falls Far
by mmcnmb1
Summary: Marco and Star have been facing Ludo's goons for a while now, each of them failing to guess just who might have hired the monsters to attack them daily. When their boss finally reveals himself though, it isn't exactly what Star and Marco were expecting. Because really, who expects the King of Mewni to be sending monsters after his own daughter? Moontoffee with hints of Starco


**This was actually a request I got from the user brave kid, so the credit for the basic idea goes to them. I did take some liberties with it though, just to see how it would turn out.**

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Today has not been Marco's day. First, he gets into a fight with Star, and then he gets kidnapped by Ludo's goons. Now he's trapped in some dark room with his wrists bound to each other behind his back, and he has the sneaking suspicion that this isn't going to be like the other times he and Star have fought against Ludo.

Neither of them knows much about the tiny bird who claimed to be getting paid to antagonize them. Of course, Star had no clue who would be paying a gang of monsters to attack her, apparently there were a lot of options.

 _"Mewmans don't really like me." Star had admitted once, after their near disastrous vacation to Mewni. Her blue eyes, with their slitted pupils had met his, tinged with regret. "Nobody trusts someone who's half monster."_

 _Marco had stopped then, and really looked at the girl he had come to know. He took in her pale skin, a color that was borderline gray. Her hair, dark blue with light blue tips that were somehow natural. The way her nails grew out past her finger easily, curling into primitive claws. The small tail that poked out of her green dress, lying perfectly still as she waited for his response._

 _"That's stupid." Marco had given a small, biter laugh at that, saying, "But I know how you feel."_

 _"Really?" Star turned to him, her eyes shining with curiosity. "I thought you said you don't have monsters on Earth? You didn't lie to me, did you?"_

 _"What? No, I wouldn't lie to you about that." Marco waved her concerns away. "But people on Earth don't all look the same, we have different colored eyes, hair, clothes, and skin. Some people think that just because your skin is one color, that they're better than you, or that you're a criminal. And that's stupid, they don't even know me!" Marco threw his hands outwards in exasperation, giving the sky a resentful glare._

 _"I'm sorry Marco." Star offered, putting a hand on his shoulder._

 _"It's fine Star." Marco smiled, "But hey, now we just have more in common."_

 _Star had laughed at that, smiling with all her teeth, and even though her teeth were sharp and jagged, her smile was still warm._

Now he's left hoping that Star comes to rescue him, but at the same time, praying that she doesn't because he doesn't want whoever is holding him to get her too.

A door opens, and Marco squints at the bright light before he is plunged into near darkness once more. He hears a small click, and suddenly a light flickered to life above his head. His wrists are bound behind his back, so he can't do much, but his feet are free, and he backs away from the vague figure that walks towards him.

His back hits a wall soon enough though, and Marco grits his teeth in frustration, warning the figure, "I'm telling you, I may not be able to use my hands, but I have feet of steel."

A soft chuckle comes from the figure as they step into the light. "I don't think that will be a problem. Well, unless if you keep running around, then it might be a problem."

"You're not going to beat her you know." Marco calls out trying his best to see if the lizard that now stands in front of him in a black suit matches anything Star has told him about the nobles on Mewni. "She's stronger than all of Ludo's monsters."

"Those are only small fry, what makes you think she's ready to face a real challenge?" The lizard's navy hair shines under the light, his green eyes shadowed over by a scowl.

"What makes you think she can't?" Marco shoots back. "You're going to be dead meat once she gets here."

"If she gets here." The lizard tilts his head, studying Marco with an analytical stare. "I don't think you were on good terms last time you spoke."

Marco freezes, his mind unwillingly bringing back Star's angry eyes boring into his, her sharp cry of _"Well maybe we shouldn't be friends."_ He shakes it off as best he can, replying with, "Well then maybe you don't know Star."

He doesn't have time to mentally berate himself for skipping over the more obvious question of how the lizard had even known about the argument because the lizard is grinning. It is a small, sharp smile that seemed vaguely familiar.

"How ironic." The lizard says, but doesn't elaborate further. "You may call me Toffee. I need to ask you a few questions."

"Good luck getting answers." Marco snaps back, slightly regretting his defiance when Toffee drops, twisting to swing his tail at Marco.

Marco jumps over it easily enough, in a precise, practiced motion that is only interrupted when he fumbles for balance on his landing. Marco's brows furrow as Toffee gets to his feet, brushing off his suit. Marco has seen that exact move before, except from a bright, bubbly girl who had wanted to spar for fun in their spare time.

"Who are you?" Marco asks, backing away further.

"Who are you, Marco Diaz?" Toffee stands still, considering Marco. "And what is your relationship to Star Butterfly?"

"Shouldn't you know that?" Marco rolls his eyes. "Seeing as you apparently already know just about everything else."

"Answer the question please."

"What are you, a lawyer?" Marco pauses, taking in Toffee's outfit again. "Well, you do dress like one. Which is boring. I mean really, if you're going to be a villain might as well go all out."

"Do you have anything else besides for smart remarks?"

"For you," Marco shrugs, a motion that is impaired by the awkward position his arms are in. "not much."

"Fine-" The door comes flying off his hinges, nearly hitting Toffee mid-sentence. Toffee sighs, "What have I told you monsters about-"

"Dad?" Marco perks up at Stars voice but then stops once he considers what she actually said.

"Wait, dad?" Marco shifts his gaze from Star to Toffee, and then back to Star again. Trying in vain to connect the two as daughter and father. "This guy is the king of Mewni?"

His comments are ignored as Star and Toffee stare each other down, Toffee looking like nothing more than a child who has been caught stealing the cookies.

"Ah, hello, Star." Toffee has a thin smile on his face. "How have you been?"

"I was better before I knew you were going around kidnapping my friends." Star strolls past him, quickly blasting the ropes off Marco's wrists. He mutters his gratitude as she goes straight back to arguing with her father. The thought is strange, but now that Star is standing right beside Toffee, Marco can see the resemblance.

"I had a good reason." Toffee raises his hands at his daughter furious scowl, the claws matching Star's clenched ones

"Like what?" Star draws back, rolling her eyes and crossing her arms. Her tail curls behind her, lashing back and forth.

"I- look," Toffee sighs, giving Star a tired smile. "can we talk about this in my office?"

"You have an office?" Star nearly shouts, staring after Toffee as he walks out of the room. She gives Marco a flabbergasted look, but all he can do is shrug and mouth "I don't know" as he starts to follow Toffee.

They nearly get stopped by various monsters on their way around the castle, but before Star and Marco could even try and drive them back, a stern glare from Toffee was enough to send all of them scurrying.

When they finally do arrive at Toffee's so-called office, Marco hangs back by the door as Star rounds on her father once more.

"What are you even doing dad?" Star tugs on her hair, something Marco knows she only does when she's really worried, and paces back and forth in front of the small desk Toffee sits behind.

"I'm looking out for you, that's what." Toffee snaps, and Star freezes, shock lining her wide eyes. With an apologetic sigh, he continues, "Look, I'm sorry for not telling you directly-"

"Yeah you are." Star mutters under her breath, and Marco hums softly in agreement.

"-but you need to be prepared for the future. Half your future citizens don't even trust you, there's a slew of nobles and traditionalists not so secretly after our blood, and you still only know the basics of your wand."

"Then maybe you could-"

"Those secrets aren't mine to tell." Toffee cuts Star off gently, an admonishing smile on his face. "But you need to improve. That's why I hired Ludo's gang. They're primitive but they accomplish what they need to."

"Wait, so all the times that Ludo's attacked us, that's been you?" Marco, surprisingly, speaks up before Star does, tilting his head at Toffee in confusion. "Why not just give her extra training or something?"

"She needs real battle experience, not some weak imitation of one." Toffee responds without batting an eye. It gives Marco the impression that Toffee had already thought long and hard about this.

"Besides, isn't this awesome?" The light is back in Star's eyes, sweeping the doubt and anger over being left in the dark far away. Instead, a grin illuminates her face as she bounces in place, brimming with excitement. "I mean, that's so cool, and it's so much better then training. Don't you have more fun fighting Ludo than you do in karate?"

Marco sighs, and that's enough to let Star know that he begrudgingly agrees with her. Something about the exhilaration, the adrenaline of an actual fight that karate class can never match.

"I mean, it's totally not cool that you didn't even bother to tell me-" Star blanches suddenly, her face turning very, very pale. "Does Mom know about this?"

Toffee suddenly looks incredibly uncomfortable, "I would much rather keep this between you and me."

"Got it." Star winks at him, leaning over onto the desk with a smile.

"You two may leave when you wish, preferably soon but I won't force you." Toffee states, already working on what appears to be a lengthy document.

"Okay, okay dad." Star rolls her eyes fondly, skipping over to Marco to grab his hand, exclaiming "Let's go back home and eat nachos!"

Marco is so relieved that their argument seems to have been forgotten, that he nearly forgets to ask the nagging question in the back of his mind. He stops Star, turning back to ask, "Why'd you have them take me then?"

"I wanted to test you." Toffee doesn't seem bothered by his blunt answer, his eyes focused solely on the paper and pen below him. "You have to be prepared if you're going to keep up with Star. Although Star managed to find her way here faster than expected."

"Was I?" Marco hates how desperate he sounds, but he really wants to know.

"You handled yourself as expected." Toffee spares a glance for Marco. "You were satisfactory."

"Uh, one more question, if you don't mind." Marco shoves his hands in the pockets of his jacket to hide the way they want to fidget with nerves. "Are you and Queen happy together?"

That question makes Toffee pause, and he sets his pen down, lacing his fingers together in thought. Its only then that Marco realizes that one of Toffee's fingers is missing, a bright red scar shining around the first knuckle.

Something flashes in Toffee's eyes, something that the flustered butterflies in his stomach that are finally popping up from the way his hand is intertwined with Star's can relate to.

"Yes." Toffee decides, his eyes boring into Marco's. "We are happy. It's been a struggle, but it has been worth it."

"That's good." Marco says, almost out of habit more than conscious thought. Star is tugging on his hand again though, and he doesn't bother to resist her this time, bidding goodbye with a small wave.

Later, when it's just him and Star on the couch shoving their faces with nachos, another thought comes to Marco.

"Is your dad's name really Toffee?"

Star's eyes widen, and she's left coughing up stray bits of chip from her throat. When she can finally speak again, she turns to him, an impish smile on her face. "What?"

"That's what he told me before you came." Marco offers, laughing along with Star as she cackles.

"That's just his favorite candy." Star howls in between laughs, eyes bright with childish delight. "I can't believe he told you that."

"What is his name then?" Marco asks after he and Star are reduced to a breathless heap.

"King Septartus Naggal the Third." Star says, like it was the most normal thing in the world, and its Marco's turn to nearly choke on his own spit.

"What kind of name is that?" He asks after he's recovered sufficiently.

Star smiles at him, a full-blown one showing off all her teeth, and simply replies with, "It's his, I guess. It's his."


End file.
